Device for placing pottery in kilns



(No Model.)

J. TAMS. DEVIGE FOR PLACING POTTERY IN KILNS. No. 556,289. Pat nted Mar. 10,1896.

AN DREW EGRMIAM. PNO'I'O-U'I'NO-WASIIINGTOMJB.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES TAMS, OF TRENTON, NEIV JERSEY.

DEVICE FOR PLACING POTTERY IN KlLNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,289, dated March 10, 1896.

Application filed August 3,1 8 9 5.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES TAMS; a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Placing Pottery in Kilns; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. I

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of the invention in application. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of strap. Fig; 3 is a similar view showing legs separate. Fig. 4 is a detailed view of fiat form of strap or bar.

This invention has relation to means for supporting pottery-ware in kilns and ovens while being baked, glazed, or otherwise fired; and it consists in an improved stilt or support of the novel construction hereinafter described and claimed.

Heretofore the saggars in which potterywaresuch as plates, platters, and dishes of various kindseare supported while being fired have been provided with pins, lugs, projections, and thimble-pins of various kinds upon which the articles rest. Supporting bars or stilts of difierent kinds have also been devised, and these, too, in so far as I am aware, have always been provided with pins, lugs, or other projections of some character upon which the articles rest. An exception to the above is in the firing of hard-paste porcelain in which each plate or dish is fired in a separate saggar, which process is used distinctively for that class of ware. An objection to these devices with pins has been that the pins or other projections upon which the articles rest leave marks upon the ware at the points of contact, usually on the under side of the rim portions of the articles. Another objection is that owing to the fact that the support for the articles has been almost entirely at the marginal portions thereof they are liable to sag or get out of shape during the firing, especially if the fire is allowed to become a little too hot, as may frequently occur.

The object therefore of the present inven Serial No. 558,092. (No model.)

tion is to provide a stilt or support which is free from pins or projections of any character in contact with the ware and which is designed to support the ware centrally instead of at the marginal portions thereof.

The invention more particularly consists of a flat parallel-sided bar or strap, such as indicated at A in the accompanying drawings, made of fire-clay, cast-iron, or other refractory material. The particular form of the bar depends somewhat upon the nature of the ware with which it is to be used. For plates, platters, and concave dishes they will be of the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, with their central or body portions depressed below the plane of the end portions. For fiat ware, such as tiles, the bars will be straight, as shown in Fig. 4. This bar is arranged to extend diametrically across a plate or other article in the manner shown,with its depressed central portion within the concave thereof and its end portions projecting sufficiently beyond the edges of the article to permit them to be supported outside thereof. To provide such support each end of the bar has a leg at. These legs are either integral with the bar, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or separate therefrom, as indicated in Fig. 3. In placing the articles in the saggars I place one of these stilts on the bottom thereof. I then place an article on the central depressed portion of the stilt, then another stilt across this article with its legs resting on the end portions of the first, and so on until the pile or stack is at the full height. The manner of use will be more clearly understood by reference to Fig. 1.

The length, width, and exact form of the stilts will of course be varied according to the nature of the particular articles which they are designed to support.

It will be observed that the depressed form of the stilts (shown in Figs. 2 and 3) permits concave articles to be supported in compact manner, while each is out of contact with its neighbor and with the stilt next above it.

It will be observed further that inasmuch as the bar or strap extends entirely across the bottom of the article which it supports there is no possibility of its leaving a mark at its end or edge, as is the case with those supports which have projecting arms or ribs which extend partially under the article, or with those which have an annular flange upon which the article rests.

The narrow oblong form of the supports, as distinguished from those supports which inclose the article therein, is also advanta' geous in that they permit all portions of the article to be more evenly fired. They are also much easier to manufacture, can be stored or shipped in a more compact manner, and are cheaper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, the hereiii-described stilt or support for pottery-ware while in firing ovens or kilns, said stilt or support comprising a narrow, elongated, parallel-sided bar or strap, of refractory material, having a flat body portion designed to support the pottery article and to extend diametrically across the bottom of such article, said body portion being shaped to conform approximately to the shape in cross-section of the bottom portion of the article, and a short depending vertical leg at each end portion of said bar or strap and of equal width therewith, said legs being designed to rest upon the surface of the end portions of the stilt or support next below it, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES TAMS. Witnesses:

MAX. WAGNER, GEO. l BUTrERWoRTI-I. 

